Southampton finally ended their wait for a league win under Nathan Jones last weekend. However, they remain stuck at the bottom of the standings. They could move out of the bottom three with a victory at St Mary’s this weekend against Aston Villa.
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Nathan Jones is starting to get results at Southampton following his appointment, and they come into this home fixture against Aston Villa after winning their previous three in all competitions. While victories against Manchester City and Fulham in the EFL Cup and FA Cup, respectively, were huge moments for the manager, their biggest win came last weekend.
At Goodison Park, Southampton showed all the fighting qualities that they will need in this relegation scrap, as they came back from a goal down against Everton to claim a 2-1 win. Not for the first time, the main man for the Saints was James Ward-Prowse, as he scored twice in the second period to seal what could eventually turn out to be an integral victory in their survival bid.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa will be the visitors on the South Coast this weekend, as they look to edge closer to the top half of the Premier League standings. The Midland side has been slightly inconsistent over their previous four, as they have claimed two wins, a draw, and a defeat. However, Emery is certainly building a more organised Villa outfit.
Villa claimed victory in their latest fixture in the Premier League, but they were outplayed for large periods in that 2-1 success. Leon Bailey gave Villa the perfect start with the opener after three minutes, before Emi Buendia doubled the advantage after the hour mark. Emery will be hoping for a better display from his side on the road this weekend.
Southampton vs Aston Villa Head to Head
Aston Villa has won each of their previous two fixtures against the Saints, and three of their last four. Villa won the game earlier in the season 1-0, meaning that they have kept clean sheets in each of their previous two wins. However, Southampton has lost just once in their five home matches against the Midlands side.
Southampton vs Aston Villa Prediction
The momentum certainly appears to be with the Saints after an impressive run of victories across all competitions. This will be a huge fixture in the context of their campaign, but we could see the most likely result being a score draw.
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